Anti Reservation (Hike) Protests

It has been 3-4 days now since a fairly active protest against the new reservation policy of the government has been going on in IIT. And although I was not indifferent about the protests so far, I had not been closely following them.

Seeing some of the people around me actively engage themselves in the protests set me thinking about the movement. No one can deny the necessity for an affirmative action to bring up the backward classes. The main objection is the so called vote-bank based policies of the government. Also the fact that in most cases it is likely that the reservation does not reach the very people for whom it is meant, but is used up by socially and economically affluent amongst the backward classes.

The lack of universal free and quality primary and secondary education is of course the root of the problem. The government over the years have failed miserably to tackle this problem. So the current move by the government can clearly be seen as a way to get away with this shortcoming by providing some easy relief to the backward classes.

This however led me to question myself. Is social upliftment a responsibility of the government alone ? Is it not a responsibility of the educated class as well ? What has been my contribution towards this cause ? How many of us against the reservations right now, have worked or even thought of working for the plight of the truly backward classes of India ?

Whether the protest succeed or not, I believe that the wide level of debate witnessed over the issue is a positive sign. It has also made the urban middle class Indian realize that he cannot afford to be outside the political mainstream. If this continues, it would be an achievement in itself.